Dorset: Councillors allowances rise

Dorset councillors are set to vote themselves a pay increase – although a report says, even if agreed, some will be on lower rates than many neighbouring councils.

A report says that several councillors have given up paid work altogether, or reduced their hours, to concentrate on being a councillor, a role which many claim takes between 40 and 60 hours a week.

This week’s full council meeting is being asked to agree a hike in the basic allowance, which all councillors can claim, from just over £15,000 a year to £16,000.

Special responsibility allowances are also likely to rise with a suggestion that the council leader will get an allowance of £38,000 for the role, up from £36,591; Cabinet members £23,500, up from £23,000 and chairs of larger committees £11,000, up from £10,454; with one of the biggest percentage rises for licensing chairs, up from £5,227 to £7,500 to recognise their growing workload.

In addition to basic and special responsibility allowances councillors are also entitled to claim a range of other allowances, including a dependent carer’s allowance; travelling, subsistence and other expenses while on council duty.

A report to this Thursday’s (May 15th) full Dorset Council meeting says that the basic councillor allowance will rise roughly in line with the nationally agreed pay award to staff of 3.2per cent.

The recommendations to the council meeting come from an independent renumeration panel made up of three professionals with no direct links to the authority.

Part of their work included questionnaires to councillors and interviewing around 20 councillors and staff, both long serving and recently elected.

The council’s overall members’ allowance scheme was last reviewed in 2020.

In a survey many councillors claimed to be working between 40 and 60 hours a week on council and other related business on behalf of electors in their wards.

Said the independent panel report: “From the interviews conducted it was clear that some councillors were performing significant roles within their communities, bringing together various partner organisations and leading on projects as well as dealing with significant levels of case work. In addition, there was a broad consensus that digital communications, particularly social media, have increased the pressure on councillors to respond to queries and comments almost immediately, no matter what day of the week or the time of day. This constant engagement with the public has led to increased workloads.”

The panel heard of some councillors who had given up paid work to concentrate on being a councillor, with others reducing their working hours: “The allowances payable were not in all cases, sufficient to make up for lost earnings or, indeed, potential earnings, but they did go some way to reduce the deficit,” noted the report.

The post of council leader, currently held by Crosways Lib Dem Nick Ireland, will, like others, be up for election at this Thursday evening’s annual council meeting in Dorchester.

The report noted that the allowance for the leader of the council in Dorset, currently set at £36,590 is on the low side compared with Devon County Council where the leader receives £37,700; Somerset Council £38,750; Wiltshire Council £39,670 and at Cornwall Council £33,980 with Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council currently paying £31,320.

Dorset Cabinet members do slightly better than most of their neighbours with the current £23,000 allowance slightly higher than most regional neighbours – at Devon County Council cabinet member get an allowance of £22,623; Somerset Council £20,150; Wiltshire Council £23,800 and Cornwall Council £23,780.

An officer report on councillor allowance says that, if approved, as recommended the additional cost of meeting all the increases is likely to amount to £44,000 a year.

Benchmarking data collected for the independent panel showed that the Dorset basic allowance to councillors was, regionally, a little on the low side with Somerset councillors receiving £15,500; Wiltshire £15,860 and Cornwall £18,368 although neighbouring Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole was lower at £14,458.